Then hollow out the inside and give the bowl an undercut for the inside shape

Lastly I cut a groove for the inlay. At this point the bowl is done, but my fun project has just gotten started!

Milliput is a two part epoxy putty that I will be using to create the bowl inlay. I have had epoxy putty in the shop for a while, but it was just gray putty and I never considered it for an inlay. I then watched some videos on Jimsons Stuff’s Youtube channel (source: https://youtu.be/yfbpyz6Mi-c) and fell in love with the bowls he was making.

I bought two colors of Milliput, one black one white. The putty comes in two parts. You use equal parts of the putty and hardener and mix them together until you get a uniform color. After I mixed both the black and the while, I flattened them out. This process wasn’t easy, as the putty is very sticky and stuck to everything I threw at it. Rubber gloves, silicone mats, parchment paper and my razor blade.

Mix up the putty. One black, one white.Flatten each out. I put each ball between layers of parchment paperI applied pressure with a flat block of wood to get each into putty disks.Use razor to slice the disks in halfStack the two halves togetherRoll that black and white stack into a “putty snake” between your palmsSlice the rolls into small cross sections that will go into the inlay groove.

Those segments where then lined up to be added to the inlay grove on my bowl. Oddly enough, the putty didn’t stick to the wood as much as my fingers, so another putty fight ensued.

I got it well packed into the groove and I left it for a couple of days to harden up. Honestly, I wasn’t sure it was going to work out at this point.

After 48 hours I had some time in the shop again.

The bowl was re-mounted on the lathe and ready to turn. At this point the Milliput was rock hard. I used my carbide tool to turn down up the putty and make it flush with the walnut. I was amazed.

It looked awesome! Even with all the troubles and stress and issues, it come out great. A nice clean cut and it already had a smooth finish just off the carbide tool!

I sanded to 400 grit. Which got a LOT of the putty dust stuck in the pores of the wood. A little time with my air compressor and and about an hour picking out the some of the stubborn ones with a sewing pin, and it was mostly cleaned up. I think if you added a finish to the wood prior to the putty would help to eliminate most of that.

The finish was 3 coats of wipe on poly applied with a shop towel.

Despite the pain of working with Milliput, I cannot argue with the results. I’m super pleased.

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13 comments so far

I, too, am well pleased, Peter. Thank you for doing that. I don’t often enough think of things that aren’t wood. Had I even thought to use putty on a turning, I’d likely have passed on the the thought, reasoning that it would just disintegrate upon meeting up with a lathe tool. Not so, I see. Your willingness to try things is an amazing resource to those of us who, perhaps, aren’t as bold. Keep being the canary-in-the-mine for us. So many things have potential, I guess. We all could do a little more cogitating on the “what’s-in-there” question, when considering other materials. There’s a whole world out there, huh? I’m remembering the pen maker who uses sliced up aluminum cans in his pens.The WOP took to the putty okay?

I, too, am well pleased, Peter. Thank you for doing that. I don t often enough think of things that aren’t wood. Had I even thought to use putty on a turning, I d likely have passed on the the thought, reasoning that it would just disintegrate upon meeting up with a lathe tool. Not so, I see. Your willingness to try things is an amazing resource to those of us who, perhaps, aren’t as bold. Keep being the canary-in-the-mine for us. So many things have potential, I guess. We all could do a little more cogitating on the “what s-in-there” question, when considering other materials. There s a whole world out there, huh? I m remembering the pen maker who uses sliced up aluminum cans in his pens.The WOP took to the putty okay?

- Mark Wilson

Thank you Mark! I really appreciate the support!

I wouldn’t have believe it would work, had I not tried it! Not the easiest medium to work with but well worth the time, now that I see the end result.